Just wondered what goes down in Yorkshire, vegan style. I moved back to York a couple of years ago and have noticed that although I love living back here (where my heart belongs!), living in London and other bigger cities can at times make vegan life a bit easier, with stuff going on and a wider choice of produce e.t.c... . You see, I've been wondereing. Just how many secret vegans there are living in York, quietly nibbling on their cashews?...

I love El Piano! Is that little vegan shoppe still around in York? I can't remember exactly where it was, except that it was across the street from the model railway store and very close to the Minster. Last time I was there was a few years ago, though.

I keep meaning to go back to Goji. I went there not long after they opened (few years ago now) and it wasn't very relaxing and all a bit stressed out. It may have been because it was super busy but I remember the food being good so I'm willing to go back and try it again...

Thanks for the vegan society details. I'm not sure the vegan family thing is for me (just me and my boyfriend at the mo!) but thanks for the heads up though!

I live in Doncaster, but York is our micro-break destination of choice. I would recommend Goji, which does lovely food (the Portobello mushroom burger is beaut.) There's also a nice Chinese restaurant, which I can't remember the name of, but it looks like a Tudor building from the outside. There's lots of tofu and wheat gluten dishes, (although I found the tofu too soft for my liking), but I was surprised by how much choice there was.

We're going up again in a couple of weeks, so any other recommendations appreciated.

Visited the Milkshack in York today, very disappointed. There's a menu outside that highlights vegan milkshakes, so I was looking forward to trying one. (Haven't had a bought milkshake in years.)

The lad behind the counter asked if I wanted soya ice cream (for an extra 60p) as I'd asked for my shake to be made with soya milk. I said no, as I'm not that bothered about ice cream anyway, but he put dairy ice cream in anyway! When i questioned this he said he'd asked if I wanted the soya stuff. I explained the milkshake was labelled vegan and he seemed to get very confused and fetched the manager. He was no better, when I explained the situation he said "So vegans can't have any dairy, then?" Then he offered me a smoothie instead, but I declined and had to ask for my money back, as an offer wasn't forthcoming.

It really annoyed me that the menu stipulates some shakes are vegan, when they're clearly not. If it states vegan, you shouldn't have to assume it is not. You shouldn't have to ask for something labelled vegan to actually be vegan.

So if you want to go there, make sure you point out you want no dairy, because otherwise they won't have a clue.

I'm reviving this thread because Mike and I are going to Yorkshire the first week of July for our anniversary holiday. We'll be in York for about 2 days (arriving the Monday afternoon, leaving for Scarborough the Wednesday afternoon) and Scarborough for another 2ish days (leaving Friday afternoon). We're taking a day trip to Whitby on the Thursday.

Does anyone have any recommendation for breakfast in York or Scarborough? Does anyone know of a good place to eat in Whitby, or should we just get food to take with us? Apart from El Piano, is there anywhere in York that we absolutely can't miss?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions of things to do that we can't miss (York, Scarborough or Whitby)? Has anyone ever taken the North Yorkshire Moors steam train, and is it worth the £24 per person (plus the cost of getting to Pickering)? Most of the point of Whitby is to do Dracula-related stuff, but we'll have the best part of a day there, so I'm open to other suggestions.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

One of my besties lives in Filey so I'll ask her about the stuff to do part. I was just up visiting her a few weeks ago. We went to Goji in York for dinner. It was just OK. I think I'd have preferred it for lunch. Nothing was bad but nothing was amazing. I've only been to the Malaga branch of El Piano and loved it but can't speak for the York one. My husband went and liked it but said the portions were very small for the price.

In Scarborough you MUST got to CALF. My friend are both omni and they loved it and have been back since. It is all vegan, has a coal fire, home made cakes and lots of good food. When I went they were having a big fundraiser so they only had a limited menu but it was still excellent. My omni friend said the milkshake was amazing. As well as the eat in food they sell stuff like falafel boxes, baguettes and flapjacks to take away to the beach. I got a baguette and cake for my train home and they were really good.

Just down the road from it as we walked past we noticed another cafe which isn't vegan but had a sign outside saying vegan cheese available and a small vegan menu. Then on the drive back to their house we passed another veggie and vegan cafe. I was joking about Scarborough being the new Portland.

I did have a day in Whitby with them once years ago and unplanned we popped into a cafe which had a lovely feel to it and they managed to do me something. I'll ask them if they remember the name.

Are you driving? If you are you can go to Scarborough via Pickering OR stop at Goathland on the way to Whitby to catch the NYM railway. I have taken my nephews on the Santa special at Xmas. It was snowy & very picturesque. If you like steam trains & beautiful scenery then it is great otherwise if you are driving from Scarborough to Whitby the scenery is pretty spectacular anyway.

There is a Fish & Chip shop in Whiby that fries in vegetable oil. They also do veggie sausage etc but I'm not sure if that is vegan. I think it is called Robertsons (They have a take away & restaurant) If you go over the swing bride in the centre of Whitby, as if you are walking towards the Abbey you will see Holland & Barrett on your left. Then there is a little street & then a few more shops & the chippy. It advertises outside that it fries in veggie oil. I think this is the place.

Robin Hoods Bay is a lovely place to go to on the way to Whitby. It used to have a veggie vegan cafe but it has closed down. However some of the pubs do have vegan options or are happy to adapt. They seem quite vegan friend there on the whole which is quite unusual for North Yorkshire. (Lots of places still have fish listed at Vegetarian!)

I've never been to CALF in Scarborough but the reviews look great so I'm definitely gonna get myself over there soon. Unfortunately the Nutmeg cafe got taken over & then started serving meat & shut down. However there is another cafe called Cafe Venus on Ramshill Road which is veggie vegan. Again I've not been there but it looks good.

I went to CALF yesterday. What a great place! I had marinated tofu & spinach bagel which was served with a lovely salad. My friend has a sausage & bean casserole with mustard mash. Then I had waffle with maple walnut ice cream & he had chocolate cherry cake. Everything was scrummy! Don't think the opening hours are very long though & they may change from week to week as they had a sign outside saying this week's opening hours. Most days it seemed to be open from 12 to 4.

There is also a cafe slightly further up, on the same side of the road but closer to the town called Nomad Cafe. I've never been there, and they sell meat but they had chalk boards outside which showed vegan & veggie main meal options. They also advertise vegan cheese & soya milk on the outside board. So that is probably worth a look.

Depending on when you visit there may be something good on a Stephen Joseph Theatre. If it is an SJT production you can get standby tickets on the day for £10 (if there are any left!)

York - We had Goji for lunch the first day. It was hit and miss - the hummus was OK, and my mushroom burger was great, but Mike didn't care for his wrap and the "sweet potato wedges" that came with my burger were basically just a quartered sweet potato that had been baked. They had loads of vegan dessert options - we had the mocha cake, which was a bit dry (this was near the end of the day), but on Wednesday we went back and had the chocolate cake, which was much nicer. El Piano was really good, and I wish we could've gone more than once so I could've tried more things. The albondigas were super meaty and really tasty. The only complaint I have about them is that they didn't have any desserts I actually wanted.

Sylvern House (in Scarborough) was nice - they were able to provide us with an adequate breakfast, and the room was small but served its purpose. CALF was great - we actually didn't go to any of the other veg-friendly places on Happy Cow. We passed Nomad Cafe a couple of times, and they definitely had vegan-friendly stuff, but we loved CALF so much (and wanted to support an all-vegan business) that we just didn't bother with them (or Cafe Venus, which we didn't even see). However, since CALF closes at 4.30pm (the latest of the 3 on Happy Cow), we had dinner at a place called Curry Leaf (which is almost right across from the station) that had several vegan options and was really cheap and delicious.

Whitby - Humble Pie and Mash (listed in Happy Cow) didn't have anything suitable. There's a place called Hippy Hippy Shake that does vegan milkshakes and smoothies (if they have Swedish Glace on hand - they didn't when we were there, but he went to Holland and Barrett on the other side of the road to hook us up, and of course they were out of SG). There are loads of sweet shops, so we got quite a lot of junk food (one place had some really delicious cinder toffee, and I found vegan brandy snaps at a little crappy indoor market). Other than that, we didn't really find much. But if you ever find yourself in Whitby with nothing to eat, there's a huge Co-op right behind the bus station.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear